Promises
by CrisisChild
Summary: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Cadet Cloud Strife is  sent back in time to when General Sephiroth was just a child in the care of Professor Gast. What will he do while he is there? How will he get home? Time Travel. AU. Drabble series.
1. Prologue

**Title:** Promises

**Author:** CrisisChild

**Summary:** Due to unforeseen circumstances, Cadet Cloud Strife is sent back in time to when General Sephiroth was just a child in the care of Professor Gast. What will he do while he is there? How will he get home? Time Travel. AU. Drabble series.

**Rate:** K

**Beta'd:** Nope

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sephiroth, Cloud or any part of the FFVII Compilation. I just write fic for fun.

**Author's Note:** Re-worked it a bit. Let's see how things go, hm?

**PROLOGUE**

It all started with a promise. It always did, with Cloud.

This promise was one to become a SOLDIER by the time he returned home. The teen from Nibelheim would prove himself worthy, even if it killed him. His mother was distressed that he had to leave – cried and sobbed and held onto him for dear life, but Cloud gently eased her off of him and firmly said that he needed to go. He had already told Tifa that he was going the night before his departure, which meant that the news would have spread by the next morning. Nibelheim was such a small town…

Tifa thought that he was going for her. Maybe, at one point, it had been for her sake. However, after a year of barely scraping by in the entrance exams by sheer willpower, Cloud figured out that he had done it more for himself, on top of all the promises he had made in the past. Cloud had made so many promises it was almost maddening that he could keep them all at once.

Cloud kept his promises close to him. How? With magic marker, that was how. Every time he made a promise, he would write it on his right arm so he would never forget. And when the black letters wore themselves out or washed off, he'd be sure to renew them once again. He had normal promises, like changing his underwear every day (it was embarrassing, so he wrote that one in small letters) and bigger ones meant to motivate himself: WORK HARD. That one really stuck to the young man of fifteen.

It started out with Sephiroth.

One day, he had walked into Cloud's class one day, surveying them all carefully from the side of the room. Many of the cadets had tried taking a glimpse of the illustrious general, Cloud included, which resulted in him getting smacked upside the head by his sparring partner's practice sword. It had been his class for practical use of weaponry; his distraction earned him a bump on the head and a scolding from his instructor.

However, like some bizarre dream, Sephiroth came up to him and said, 'I see potential in you. Work hard.'

And then he left the class without another word.

From that day on, Cloud had worked his hardest, hardly going out with his fellow cadets, trying to absorb as much knowledge as he could from any source. Almost every other day was a cramming session with a few extra workouts here and there. Dear Minerva, how Cloud lamented the fact that he had inherited his mother's tiny physique. Looking at the other recruits, Cloud felt incredibly inferior when it came to size. Speed he had in spades, since he had to learn how to outrun many a great things from a young age (bullies and Nibel wolves, for example) and he was no slouch intelligence-wise. If Cloud put effort into the things he did, he was sure to accomplish anything.

WORK HARD. It became his mantra.

Zack, a SOLDIER friend of his who had a similar background as him (i.e. being a country bumpkin), said he was being way too serious for someone his age. He should try to enjoy life as much as he could, while he was young. Cloud pointed out to the older teen that he was too young to be sounding like an old man and let him do as he pleased. The faster he got into SOLDIER, the better. Cloud had a lot of promises to keep, after all. Just a cadet, he had the horrible chance of being thrown out at any given time, should his performance not prove at least _average_. Zack did try to help, in his own way, but the guy was not suited to be a teacher to anyone.

He was more hyperactive than a puppy on sugar, that one.

"Any reason why you're working so hard?" Zack asked one fine autumn day; a day that would be considered ordinary by others, but would hold so much significance to Cloud.

The two of them were on their way to the material fusion labs; Cloud had some things to pick up and deliver, such was the fate of those called SOLDIER cadets. The blond thought about the question a bit, before answering his friend.

"Because I made a promise," answered Cloud, as he played around with an old pair of dog tags. They were once his father's a long time ago; a parting gift from his mother, as he left Nibelheim. Cloud's father was once a soldier in the Shinra army, before SOLDIER had been created. It was very precious to the teenager, since it was the only connection he had to his deceased father. The only other memorial was a large stone with several names carved on it, situated near the front of Shinra headquarters. A memorial for all the fallen soldiers who fought for Shinra. He had made a promised to his father as well, a long time ago. So many promises…

Zack sighed and gave Cloud a noogie. "So serious. Don't be such a workaholic, Cloud! Seriously envious of your dedication though. Any promises in particular you're trying to keep?"

There was, thought Cloud, a memory sewn deep into his heart…from a time when things had been simpler. Better. _Kinder_. A long time ago, stranger had appeared in his hometown of Nibelheim, sewing all kinds of stories into his head. Stories of conquering nations, of fighting exotic, powerful beasts and having the power to protect those you cared for most. At the time, his father had been lost to his family for a year, leaving his mother grieving and Cloud trying to grow up quickly to take his place. What he had been told…it stuck with him. And he had made a promise with that stranger…

"A few," Cloud said carefully, as he extracted himself from his friend's grasp. "I want to become strong. I got a lot of people…I have to protect."

"_Do_ you now?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's a nice dream to have. Hope it comes true for you, Cloud."

Cloud only made a non-committal noise, though the slight blush he had on his face belied his true feelings. He fidgeted with the dog tags hanging from his neck.

"Hey, Cloud. You interested in meeting with Sephiroth?"

"Huh?" That was a random question – it took Cloud completely by surprise. Showed on his face, too. Unable to help himself, Zack pinched his younger friend's cheeks, since his look of surprise was just _too_ adorable. "_Zack!_"

Hands swatted away, Zack grinned down at Cloud as they walked together into the material fusion room. "Seems like you caught his eye, buddy. Well, you and a few other cadets. But he actually remembered your name, specifically. Oh, but that might be because I've been mentioning you a lot to him…"

"_Zack_." The SOLDIER Third, was rambling on again and it took Cloud one flick of Zack's nose to get him to stop. A trick he learned with actual dogs that worked on Zack, since it startled him enough to stop talking and pay attention. "Let's just talk about this after I get my work done, okay?"

And that was the end of that conversation. Cloud didn't like cutting Zack off like that, but the subject of Sephiroth was a bit touchy with the cadet(and he really did have to get his appointed tasks done on time). Although after seeing him in person and speaking with him (all right, Sephiroth spoke to him while he stood in a daze), Cloud still held a bit of hero worship in him. The Silver General was Cloud's ideal – as in, he was the kind of person he wished to become. Strong, confident, intelligent and in control of the situation at all times…that was the kind of man Cloud wanted to be. As he was…he was too weak to defend himself, let alone keep a promise to his father to _protect his mother_.

Life just sucked that way.

And at the rate he was going, Cloud could only hope to become halfway as strong in the next ten years. He really needed to work as hard as he could.

In his backpack were some new materials the scientists in the material fusion chamber needed for some experiments. In exchange, he would get some paperwork that needed to be filed in the science department upstairs. Cloud had always liked going into this room, because there were so many interesting innovations happening within, concerning the material brought in and created. Zack had shown him a few fusions he had created and it left Cloud completely astounded. Materia was not something anyone could get easily, especially anything good. As a cadet he had a total of zero on his person. Only authorized personnel were allowed to have them.

Amongst the materials he was to deliver was a Time material, one of the trickiest things imaginable. Sometimes they made you slow, others they made you go fast. And at other times, you find yourself stopping all of a sudden. Useful thing according to Cloud, though not many in SOLDIER deemed it so; most preferred to have as much fire power as possible. 'Brawn over brains' could describe most of the guys Cloud had to attend classes with.

Materia and materials delivered, Cloud was ready to take up the documents and head on out with Zack again, when a shout caught his attention.

He turned.

One of the fusion reactors was overheating.

Zack was calling for everyone to take cover.

Bright green light filled the room.

Cloud, threw his arms over his head and dove to the floor.

The reactor exploded, catching many in the blast, Cloud included. His body was thrown up hard against the wall and then fell to the ground. Some bones cracked, he knew, and he had hit his head when he crashed against the wall. His skin…tingled oddly enough – almost pleasantly, despite the internal damage he had suffered. The world was filled with green on green; bright ones. However, the brightest of all was an orb rolling his way, shining ethereally.

That ball of emerald light was the last thing he saw, before he passed out.


	2. Waking Up

**Title:** Promises

**Author:** CrisisChild

**Summary:** Due to unforeseen circumstances, Cadet Cloud Strife is sent back in time to when General Sephiroth was just a child in the care of Professor Gast. What will he do while he is there? How will he get home? Time Travel. AU. Drabble series.

**Rate:** K

**Beta'd:** Nope

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sephiroth, Cloud or any part of the FFVII Compilation. I just write fic for fun.

**Author's Note:** And the 100 word drabbles begin.

**Waking Up**

**Prompt: Wake**

Opening his eyes, Cloud found himself in a strange place. The smell of the place, the way the bricks were set in the wall and that odd, skin crawling feeling he got from the room he was in seemed familiar, however. His entire body hurt it was amazing that he hadn't died from the…the explosion! Right!

Sitting up – with his body protesting – Cloud looked around, trying to get a bearing for where he was. It didn't look like a blast zone. It didn't look like anything had blown up at all here. One thing's clear: he wasn't in Midgar anymore.

**Prompt: Cringe**

He was in some kind of basement lab. There were beakers and test tubes lining a wooden table in front of him. A book, too. On the off chance the book would give him a clue as to where he was Cloud reached out to pick it up and was startled when his hand passed right through it. He gave a startled shout, falling to the ground painfully. He ended up disturbing some equipment, which caused a great big racket.

He held his hand; it was solid again.

Someone was coming after hearing the noise. Cloud cringed at his mistake.


End file.
